Noël Riley Fitch:

An Inventory of her Papers at the Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Center

Creator:

Fitch, Noël Riley,
1937-

Title:

Noël Riley Fitch
Papers
1930-2001,
(1990-1994)

Inclusive Dates:

1930-2001,

Extent:

15 boxes, 1
oversize box (7.56 linear feet)

Abstract:

The collection contains Fitch's
research, from inception to culmination, for the 1993 publication of the
biography, Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs Nin.
Materials in the collection document the book's research and publication
process, and include correspondence, interviews, notes, publisher's proof
and
manuscript fragments, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, legal
documents, creative works, and other items.

Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
The University of Texas at Austin

Noël Riley Fitch (1937-) was born in New Haven, Connecticut,
and educated at Northwest Nazarene College (B.A., 1959) and Washington State
University (M.A., 1965 and Ph.D., 1969). She was professor of literature
(1971-1987) and chair of the Department of Literature and Modern Languages
(1982 -1985) at Point Loma College. She lectures at the University of Southern
California (since 1986) and the American University of Paris (since 1987).

As a scholar of American expatriate intellectuals living in
Paris in the first half of this century, Fitch cast a new perspective on Paris
literary life with her first biography,
Sylvia Beach and the Lost
Generation, 1983. Anatole Broyard of the
New York Times called it
"probably the best and most complete history of that period." Her 1990
Walks in Hemingway's Paris: A Guide to
Paris for the Literary Traveler is a compendium of locations where the
American author and his friends lived, ate, and socialized in Paris.

Fitch continued her investigation of the literary life in
Paris with her 1993 biography of another prominent Paris personality,
Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs
Nin. Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) authored more than a dozen books of fiction
and erotica over the course of her life. She was a cult figure of the feminist
movement who, as a liberated woman, broke the confines of American
Victorianism. Although Nin published her diaries over the years, literary
critics believe that they present a constructed, stylized image of the woman.
Fitch analyzed the novelist's/diarist's own writings to create an in-depth
examination of Nin who was as well known for her literary work as for her
numerous and unconventional love affairs. For example, Nin's illicit
relationship with Henry Miller and his wife, June, was explored in the 1990
Hollywood feature film,
Henry and June. Fitch sought to
present an honest portrait of the author that reveals the psychological abuse
that Nin suffered as a child and may have led to her lifelong insecurities.

Fitch also wrote
Literary Cafes of Paris (1989),
and contributed to
Faith and Imagination: Essays on
Evangelicals and Literature (editor with Richard W. Etulain, 1985), and
In Transition: A Paris Anthology
(introduction, 1990). In addition, she has contributed chapters to the
Dictionary of Literary Biography
(Volume 4:
Americans in Paris, 1920-1939,
1980);
James Joyce: The Augmented Ninth
(1988);
Lesbian Texts and Contexts: Radical
Revisions (1990); and
A Living of Words: American Women in
Print Culture (n.d.). Her most recent biography,
Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia
Child, was published in 1997.

Correspondence, interviews, notes, publisher's proof and
manuscript fragments, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, legal
documents, creative works, and other materials document from inception to
culmination Fitch's research for the 1993 publication of her biography,
Anaïs: The Erotic Life of Anaïs
Nin. The material is organized in two series: Series I. Research, and
Series II. Publication Process.

Series I. is divided into two subseries: A. Sources of
Information, and B. Chapters and General Notes. Present are correspondence
and
interviews with over 160 people who either knew or were associated with Nin.
The folders remain in their alphabetical order and key personalities include
Kay Boyle, John Cage, Judy Chicago, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Erica Jong, Timothy
Leary, Joaquin Nin-Culmell, Studs Terkel, and Gore Vidal. Of note are 21
interviews (1990-1993) with Rupert Pole, Nin's friend and lover for over forty
years (1947-1977) and the executor of her estate. In some cases, the biographer
collected obituaries and journal articles about the correspondents that provide
insight into their relationship with Nin. Also included are creative works
such
as poetry by Daisy Aldan, essays by the erotica scholar Gershon Legman, and
a
dissertation on Nin by Wendy Dubow who subsequently edited
Conversations with Anaïs Nin
(1994). Fitch's handwritten notes disclose her thought process in composing the
biography and manuscript fragments (1990-1992) submitted to contributors for
fact checking substantiate the published text.

Subseries B encompasses Fitch's other research materials and
has been maintained in the creator's original arrangement by chapter. Each
chapter relates chronologically to Nin's life; the book begins with her
genealogical tree and family history. The chapters subsequently track her
peregrinations, publications, and relationships with men. A substantial amount
of notes are written on Nin's first husband, Hugh Guiler (Ian Hugo), Henry
Miller, and Lawrence Durrell. Since Henry Miller was such a significant part
of
Nin's life, one file fully documents the 1991 Miller Centennial Celebration.
Clippings and biographies of other salient members of Nin's circle such as
June
Miller and her analyst, Dr. Rene Allendy, are also included. Of particular
interest is Fitch's investigation of desertion, abandonment, and incest issues
as related to Nin's childhood. This work includes letters from Nin's analysts,
Otto Rank and Martha Jaeger as well as Legman's interview. Freud's published
notes on
"Seduction Theory" and
published articles pertaining to gender writing and women psychoanalysts round
out Fitch's analysis of the heretofore-ignored areas of Nin's psyche. Fourteen
files of snapshots taken by Fitch of Nin's residences in France enhance the
textual research. Interspersed amongst the chapter notes is Fitch's study of
Nin's published and unpublished work. Original reviews of these texts and
copies of rejection letters from publishers to Nin are included. Fitch visited
numerous libraries while carrying out her research. Photocopies of materials
from these institutions present in this collection may not be reproduced
further.